Some of New Jersey's biggest stars left lots of smoke on the track by dropping all-time great performances at the CIRCUIT NYC Invitational at the Nike Track and Field Center on Saturday night at the Armory Track in New York.
In one the most eagerly anticipated showdowns of the season, Clemmie Lilley of Rumson and Paige Sheppard of Union Catholic squared off in a loaded 800 and the two delivered electrifying performances.
The Stanford-bound Lilley was third in 2:06.17, which places her No. 4 in NJ history and No. 19 in U.S. history. Sheppard was fourth in 2:06.90, No. 5 in state history, No. 2 all-time among NJ sophomores and No. 9 in U.S. history for a sophomore.
Emmry Ross of Onsted, Michigan won the 800 in a U.S. No. 8 all-time 2:03.95 and Olivia Cieslak of Havertown, Pa., finished second in 2:04.48, No. 11 in U.S. history.
There's more to this great eight!.
Rumson junior Reese Reynolds Malone finished seventh in 2:08.01, which is No. 8 all-time in NJ history and No. 4 all-time in state history for a junior.
That's right - three of the eight fastest 800 runners in NJ history came from this race. How awesome is that!!
The only high school girls in NJ indoor history to run faster indoors in the 800 than Lilley and Sheppard are current U.S. 800 outdoor record holder and Olympic gold medalist Athing Mu of Trenton (2:03.98 in 2019), current U.S. indoor 800 record holder and World Indoor Champion Ajee' Wilson of Neptune (2:04.13 in 2012), and 4-time Olympian Joetta Clark of Columbia (2:06.0 in 1980).
And check this out - Lilley and Reynolds Malone made history by becoming the first pair of teammates in NJ history to run under 2:10 indoors! In fact, Rumson is now the only school in NJ indoor history to produce two sub 2:10 runners... ever!!!
NJ BOYS WERE COOKING IN THE 2-MILE
There was also a red hot boys 2-mile race that saw nine NJ runners, (seven from CBA and 2 from Colts Neck) run under 9:31!!!
CBA senior
Ryan Schmitt led the NJ charge by placing second in 9:03.40, No. 7 in NJ history. Senior Alex Fischer of Loomis Chaffee in Connecticut won the race in 8:58.23.
